American Malaise

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

We must always take time from our vigilant war against Fascism to remind ourselves of what it is we are fighting for. "Banana Bread?" you say. "The demonic culinary legacy of United Fruit????" Well, one important way to combat the American Malaise is discerning the Good from the Bad; and recognizing that sometimes, there is Good within the Bad, and Bad within the Good. Good = Initially, United Fruit salaries and working conditions represented a significant step up for Central Americans who were fortunate enough to find employment with it, and bananas are an excellent addition to the produce section of our grocer's. Bad = Continuous, many times violent, meddling in various governments, and our own government's conflation of the National Interest with the interests of United Fruit - something that has resulted in the continued (and well-founded) suspicion with which we are regarded by our neighbors to the south. Some day, hopefully, the lovely folks who allegedy represent our interests in Washington will re-think the notion that our Government and Armed Forces are a kind of Chamber of Commerce on steroids, to be deployed any time our multi-national masters deem it desirable.

In the meantime, banana bread is delicious, satisfying and not-too-difficult to make - especially if you have a stand mixer. After decades of immersion mixers (many times one in each hand) I finally broke down and bought a Kitchenaid stand mixer, which, while it is expensive, is made here, in Ohio and is on the UAW's "do buy" list. It's heavy as a late-model Buick - almost as big, and should last me a really long time.

While I would love to take credit for this recipe, it is actually from the Epicurious.com website. Was originally printed in Gourmet Magazine and is credited to a bakeshop called Flour, in Boston. The only change I've made is that I use sour cream instead of creme fraiche, because well, you try and get creme fraiche in near-East L.A. But whatever kind of fermented dairy product you choose, this banana bread kicks ass, and it does so twice, as it renders two loaves. Guaranteed to be a hit at your next subversive get-together, except with that one person who can always be counted on to take you to task for everything from your ingredients to the fact that the electricity to bake your bread came from a coal-fired electricity plant.

Preparation

Beat together eggs and sugar in bowl of electric mixer at medium-high speed until very thick and pale and mixture forms a ribbon when beater is lifted, about 10 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add oil in a slow stream, mixing, then mix in bananas, crème fraîche, and vanilla. Remove bowl from mixer and fold in flour mixture and walnuts gently but thoroughly.

Divide batter between loaf pans, spreading evenly, and bake in middle of oven until golden brown and a wooden pick or skewer comes out clean, 1 to 1 1/4 hours.

Cool loaves in pans on a rack 10 minutes, then turn out onto rack. Turn loaves right side up and cool completely.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Okay, so now the news comes that Wetbrain McCain is enjoying an enormous surge in popularity with women thanks to his selection of Caribou Barbie as running mate. Which leads me to conclude that a lot of women really ARE as stupid as sexist men make them out to be.

Or maybe it's this: Back in High School I figured out there were two kind of popular girls - the kind who were popular because they were pretty, came from rich families (they could afford to dress well) were reasonably bright and turned out to be, once I put aside my deeply ingrained mistrust of, and general loathing for anything that typified "all-American values" genuinely nice people - decent, wittier than you'd expect, kinder than you'd expect and more than a little savvy about the Game that is American life. Then, you had the other "popular" girl - the pretty one who was popular because despite the fact that she wasn't that smart, wasn't that savvy, wasn't that nice and wasn't that witty. What Popular Girl Number 2 had, however, was that visceral, animal instinct for tapping into that part of her adolescent cronies that is a roiling pit of insecurity desperate for validation. Popular Girl Number 2 was, in short, a scary bitch who had perfected a subtle form of terrorism and set herself up for life as Arbiter of All Things Cool and Not, at least for spineless, lame girls who saw self-worth only in the approval of others - other men, other women, their pastor, whatever.

Sarah Palin strikes me as that kind of gal. Mediocre in every respect and damn proud of it, she's the kind of person who makes you feel like her best friend as long as you don't step out of line. Stepping out of line would include: questioning her opinions, assuming that you're in a relationship of equals, excelling or doing something to draw attention to yourself, or holding a different opinion from hers. I can't imagine what kind of hell it must be to be part of her family or social group - always knowing that one false move can send you to Siberia, which, as she reminds us, is really closeby to her state.

The kind of American women who are excited by Sarah Palin are the kind of American women who, as American teens, would put up with anything for approval and wouldn't dream of questioning the established order. Or they're Camille Paglia, who seems to have this unbridled admiration for women who get places by sucking up to men and trading on their sexuality. Maybe women like that just make Camille hot, sort of like when you get liberal guys to admit that well, okay, maybe Ann Coulter is kind of disgusting, but they'd really like to screw her. I understand: I had the hots for Charlton Heston when I was kid...

Just remember one thing, Ladies, this broad hunts wolves from a helicopter and hunts moose with a machine gun...If that doesn't tell you anything, then go ahead and vote for her and decide how you want your hair done when your empty head is mounted on a plaque hanging above a fireplace in some hunting lodge.

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

This came to me via a friend in Mississippi via a friend of his in Alaska. I thought it was interesting...If you find the use of the expression "red neck" offensive, try substituting the phrase "poorly-educated narcissist," which is essentially what a redneck is...I've deleted the author's name in the interest of her personal safety...

As an Alaskan, I am writing to give all of you some information on Sarah Palin, Senator McCain's choice for VP. As an Alaska voter, I know more than most of you about her and, frankly, I am horrified that he picked her.

The most accurate description of her is red neck. Her husband works in the oil fields of Prudhoe Bay and races snow mobiles. She is a life time member of the NRA and has worked tirelessly to allow indiscriminate hunting of wildlife in Alaska, particularly wolves and bears. She has spent millions of Alaska state dollars on aerial hunting of these predators from helicopters and airplanes, dollars that should have been spent, for example, on Alaska's failing school system.We have the lowest rate of high school graduation in the country. Not all of you may think aerial predator hunting is so bad, but how anyone (other than Alaska wolf-haters, of which there are many, most without teeth), could think this use of funds is appropriate is beyond me. She has been a strong supporter of increased use of fossil fuels, yet the McCain campaign has the nerve to say she has "green" policies. The only thing green about Sarah Palin is her lack of experience. She has consistently supported drilling in ANWR, use of coal-burning power plants (as I write this, a new coal plant is being built in her home town of Wasilla), strip mining, and almost anything else that will unnecessarily exploit the diminishing resources of Alaska and destroy its environment.Prior to her one year as governor of Alaska, she was mayor of Wasilla, a small red neck town outside Anchorage. The average maximum education level of parents of junior high school kids in Wasilla is 10th grade. Unfortunately, I have to go to Wasilla every week to get groceries and other supplies, so I have continual contact with the people who put Palin in office in the first place. I know what I'm talking about. These people don't have a concept of the world around them or of the serious issues facing the US. Furthermore, they don't care. So long as they can go out and hunt their moose every fall, kill wolves and bears and drive their snow mobiles and ATVs through every corner of the wilderness, they're happy. I wish I were exaggerating.Sarah Palin is currently involved in a political corruption scandal. She fired an individual in law enforcement here because she didn't like how he treated one of her relatives during a divorce. The man's performance and ability weren't considered; it was a totally personal firing and is currently under investigation. While the issue isn't close to the scandal of Ted Steven's corruption, it shows that Palin isn't "squeaky clean" and causes me to think there may be more issues that could come to light. Clearly McCain doesn't care.When you line Palin up with Biden, the comparison would be laughable if it weren't so serious. Sarah Palin knows nothing of economics (admittedly a weak area for McCain), or of international affairs, knows nothing of national government, Social Security, unemployment, health care systems - you name it. The idea of her meeting with heads of foreign governments around the world truly frightens me.In an increasingly dangerous world, with the economy in shambles in the US, Sarah Palin is uniquely UNqualified to be vice president. John McCain is not a young man. Should something happen to him such that the vice president had to step in, it would destroy our country and possibly the world to have someone as inexperienced and inappropriate as Sarah Palin. The choice of Palin is a cheap shot by McCain to try to get Hillary supporters to vote for him. when McCain introduced her today, Palin had the nerve to compare herself with Hillary and Geraldine Ferraro. Sarah Palin, you are no Hillary Clinton.To those of you who, like me, supported Hilary and were upset that she did not get the nomination, please don't think that Sarah Palin is a worthy substitute. If you supported Hillary, regardless of what you think the media and the democratic party may have done to undermine her campaign, the person to support now is Obama, not Sarah Palin. To those of you who are independent or undecided, don't let the choice of Palin sway you in favor of McCain. Choosing her shows how unqualified McCain is to be president. To those of you who are conservative, I guess you have no choice for president.But please try to see how the poor choice of Palin tells us a great deal about McCain's judgment. While the political posturing inherent in the choice of Palin is obvious, the more serious issue is the fact that the VP is, literally, a heartbeat away from the presidency. Sarah Palin is totally and unequivocally unqualified to be vice president, let alone president. I know this is a lengthy and emotional email, but the stakes are high. I thought it might help for all of you, regardless of political affiliation, to know something about Palin from someone who has to live with her administration in Alaska on a daily basis.

Thursday, July 17, 2008

I thought I had eliminated the stupid, trite NOW note when I sent in my "outraged" letter to the New Yorker, but instead, here's what happened. Kinda cool, yeah?

Thank you for using NOW Mail System

Message sent to the following recipients:Mr. RemnickMessage text follows:

Peter McQuaid336 S Occidental Blvd.Los Angeles, CA 90057-1553

July 17, 2008

[recipient address was inserted here]

[recipient name was inserted here],

I am writing to you as a media consumer to request that youstop promotingracist imagery in the New Yorker.

The biggest problem with the cover was that it was onlykinda funnyinstead of really funny. It was only kinda funny becausethere actuallyare lots of people in America who are stupid enough tobelieve thatMichelle Obama is Angela Davis redux and her husband,Barack "HUSSEIN"Obama, is a stealth agent of Osama and together, they'regoing to "destroyAmerica" (insert fistbump here).

Anyone who has been paying attention and has even half abrain cancomprehend the irony in the New Yorker cover. I'm notbuying the notionthat the leadership of NOW misses the point anymore than Ibelieve thattwo people with the Obamas' education and intellect missit.

So given the brou-ha-ha-ha, the only conclusion I can cometo is that myliberal brethren and sisteren are just exercising thecompassion we areknown for by speaking for the folks who have had half theirbrains removed- or were born missing half. They are trying to protectthem fromwrestling with issues like context, and sarcasm, and stufflike thatthere.

Which means we now have yet another empty, meaningless,expulsion of hotair in which my side overreacts to a cartoon, and abusesthousands ofinnocent words demanding that an apology be issued alongwith the promisethat there will be no more racist, sexist or homophobiceditorial or adsin the New Yorker. (Note to ed staff: Kill the NaomiKlein/SusanFaludi/Barbara Ehrenreich "Hot Ladies of the LeftwingIntelligentsia"lingerie spread - D.R.) (note to ad staff: Kill the "GirlsGone Wild Goesto Yaddo" full-bleed vid ad on the back cover - D.R.) (noteto ed staff:Hold "The Bell Curve, Re-examined" til further notice).

Well, there is one bright spot in that evil David Remmickhas given theObama campaign a sterling opportunity to not onlydemonstrate that itscapacity for feigned outrage is on par with even theoiliest McCainutterance, but also to rid itself of any charges ofelitism. What could bemore anti-elitist than beating up on the New Yorker?

Perhaps this isn't the juncture at which to make the standforintellectual integrity, but the opportunities are gettingfurther andfurther apart - we're not getting much to work with here.We've justsuffered through eight years of political/social/economicdiscussions forimbeciles and before that, we had twenty years ofpolitical/social/economic discussions for the "challenged".

And from that we got Reagan, and we got Bush, Sr. and wegot Clinton, andin the intellectual coup de grace, we got Smirky the Chimp.

I'm tired of stupid. I'm tired of willful obtuseness. Idon't want it frommy President, and I certainly don't want it fromorganizations purportingto stand against sexism and racism. If the leadership ofNOW is as obtuseas it appears in this mailing, I'm sure we can count onbattling sexismfor a very, very long time.

In future editions of the New Yorker, and especially on itscover, pleaserefrain from publishing articles, cartoons, oradvertisements that promoteracism, sexism, homophobia, religious intolerance, orbigotry of any kind.

Elizabeth Dole, probably the biggest phony in Washington (and that's saying something) is trying to rename the big AIDS Relief bill in honor of Jesse Helms. It's kind of like re-naming NAMBLA "The Sons of Pope Benedict" (actually, not a bad idea). I was so inspired, I just had to write to her.

Dear Senator Dole,

Congratulations on your attempt to rename the AIDS relief bill after Jesse Helms as well as Henry Hyde. It's fitting that Sen. Helms be remembered in this way, for few people in Washington did as much to ensure that AIDS would continue to grow and become the worldwide tragedy it is today.

So today, I get this big, outraged email from NOW asking me to send a note of outrage to the New Yorker over their dumb Obamas cover. Uh, no. I don't think so. So I wrote this instead sort of to NOW, sort of to the Obama campaign and sort of to David Remmick..I wonder if it will get there through NOW....

Dear David Remmick,

The biggest problem with the cover was that it was only kinda funny instead of really funny. It was only kinda funny because there actually are lots of people in America who are stupid enough to believe that Michelle Obama is Angela Davis redux and her husband, Barack HUSSEIN Obama, is a stealth agent of Osama and together, they're going to "destroy America" (insert fistbump here).

Anyone who has been paying attention and has even half a brain can comprehend the irony in the New Yorker cover. I'm not buying the notion that the leadership of NOW misses the point anymore than I believe that two people with the Obama's education and intellect miss it.

So given the brou-ha-ha-ha, the only conclusion I can come to is that my liberal brethren are just exercising the compassion we are known for by speaking for the folks who have had half their brains removed - or were born missing half.

Which means we now have yet another empty, meaningless, expulsion of hot air in which my side overreacts to a cartoon, and abuses thousands of innocent words demanding that an apology be issued along with the promise that there will be no more racist, sexist or homophobic editorial or ads in the New Yorker. (Note to ed staff: Kill the Naomi Klein/Susan Faludi/Barbara Ehrenreich "Hot Ladies of the Leftwing Intelligentsia" lingerie spread - D.R.) (note to ad staff: Kill the "Girls Gone Wild Goes to Yaddo" full-bleed vid ad on the back cover - D.R.) (note to ed staff: Hold "The Bell Curve, Re-examined" til further notice).

Yep, nothing makes for an exciting intellectual climate like dispensing with wit, humor, sarcasm and of course, irony.

Well, there is one bright spot in that evil David Remmick has given the Obama campaign a sterling opportunity to not only demonstrate its capacity for feigned outrage but also to rid itself of any charges of elitism. What could be more anti-elitist than beating up on the New Yorker?

Perhaps this isn't the juncture at which to make the stand for intellectual integrity, but the opportunities are getting further and further apart - we're not getting much to work with here. We've just suffered through eight years of political/social/economic discussions for imbeciles and before that, we had twenty years of political/social/economic discussions for the "challenged".

And from that we got Reagan, and we got Bush, Sr. and we got Clinton, and in the intellectual coup de grace, we got Smirky the Chimp.

I'm tired of stupid. I'm tired of willful obtuseness. I don't want it from my President, and I certainly don't want it from organizations purporting to stand against sexism and racism. If the leadership of NOW is as obtuse as it appears in this mailing, I'm sure we can count on battling sexism for a very, very long time.

Monday, March 03, 2008

I used to really like Hillary in a big way. But I stopped liking her when she started wanting to be president. Not because she was ambitious (why shouldn't she be?) but because she started doing those things that some ambitious people do when they lose sight of why they're supposedly ambitious in the first place.

My take on Hillary was always that here was a person who wanted power so she could make things better for everyone, especially the people who deserve a better shake. Those people are legion in America and their ranks have swelled larger and larger since St. Reagan ascended to the Oval Throne, armed with a Fairytale narrative and a cursory-at-best understanding of the Human Condition outside the gates of Bel Air.

In Hillary, I thought I saw someone who wanted to make the U.S. conform more closely to the Way We See Ourselves as opposed to the Way We Really Are. I thought she wanted to make the country a more reasonable and just place, where everyone was assured they had a role to play, a job to do and were a valued partner in a vast enterprise of Justice, Compassion and Humanity.

I had no issue with her decision to run for Congress from New York State, figuring that what mattered was not whether she was from there, but whether she did a good job for her constituents. I'll give her one thing: She figured out fast that contrary to what many New York City residents think, "upstate New York" does not start at Spuyten Duyvel, nor does it end at Yorktown. As someone whose "people" hail from the banks of the St. Lawrence, I give her credit.

It was when she started getting more circumspect about things like Gay Marriage, that I started souring on her. And yes, I've heard all the exhortations from my monied, Player, Gay male friends and acquaintances about "acting mature," and "compromising" to get where we want to go.

But, I don't think I want to go where they want to go. I'm not impressed by invitations to the White House unless they're issued by a President I respect. I'm not interested in a place at a table occupied by a bunch of people who should be standing trial, not holding court. I'm not interested in getting married, really, since I see no point in signing up for an institution that is failing everyone. And I don't have any property to protect.

But the deal is this: You can't have a privilege for some people and not for other people and call yourself an Equal Society. Because you're not. There's no compromising here, kids. America is either an Equal Society, or it's not. Hillary would like to see it be kind of more equal, but not really so equal that it would make people who don't like Equality uncomfortable.

I don't like people like that. I don't like people who play both ends against the middle. It's one of the reasons I don't like her husband anymore. He has far too much regard for his accomplishments, intellect and experience and far too little for the mistakes he made, his errors in judgement and the humility that accompanies any truly great human being.

With a partner like that, it's a wonder Hillary's still standing, much less running for President. But maybe that's why she has people like Mark Pennadvising her. Maybe he's the person who advised her to vote for the war when everyone who bothered to do their homework knew that everyone in the Administration was lying. But when you have ambitions to be president, you can't appear weak on defense. And really, so what if half a million innocent Iraqis die along with 3,000 American young people serving as soldiers? it's not like they were important people or anything. Maybe it was Penn who advised her to co-sponsor a flag-burning amendment because it would raise her appeal with stupid rednecks for whom a printed piece of nylon fabric resonates more than our Bill of Rights. But who's telling her to keep supporting Bush' war? Who's telling her to keep funneling money into the pockets of Halliburton, Blackwater and the rest of them while American soldiers are still fighting for decent equipment and VA care?

In all fairness, it's not like she's getting any different examples from Nancy Pelosi, who seems more concerned with consolidating her own power as Speaker than with actually executing anything resembling a Democratic agenda. And certainly, Harry Reid has his own head so far up Bush's ass he can't even see daylight.

Obama isn't my first choice, but I'm willing to give him a shot. His opponent unfortunately, seems to have put her integrity on clearance. I'm done with "electable" candidates who can't get elected, and "compromisers" who can't see the value in being The Loyal Opposition when our opponents have a cowed public's attention. I'm tired of candidates who can't tell the difference between selling yourself and selling out.

Poor Charles Madrid needs to learn not only how to control his temper, but choose better girlfriends...

Authorities: LA man threatened Bush's life in phone call

Associated PressMar. 3, 2008 07:14 AMLOS ANGELES - A man was arrested after making a threat on the president's life last week during a phone conversation with a former girlfriend, who called 911, authorities said.

A bail hearing was scheduled Monday for Charles Madrid, a 50-year-old radio technician who allegedly threatened President Bush's life.

"Committing this murder is not a murder, it's making a difference for the people," court papers say the former girlfriend, Wanda O'Hickey-Way, quoted Madrid as saying. "I'm going to kill who needs to be killed."

According to an affidavit, LAPD officers arrived at his home Tuesday, and one asked Madrid, "Do you want to kill the president?"

"Yes," Madrid replied.

He was charged with knowingly and willfully threatening to take the life of the president.

Madrid lives with his mother, Rachel Madrid-Hall. She conceded Madrid has a temper, but said "he's not a maniac. I think he was speaking out of frustration."

She said he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis two years ago, his job at a radio station was cut back to part time and his bicycle - his only means of transportation - recently was stolen off the front porch.

"Sometimes life just kicks you in the teeth," Madrid-Hall said. She said her son blamed President Bush for the war in Iraq and the bad economy, among other things.

Yep, sometimes life just kicks you in the teeth, and sometimes the President and his friends do. It's nothing personal, Chuck, but you're middle-aged and you have MS and you don't make a lot of money and so, you're just not that important to the Important People Who Run Things right now. By the same token, the White House shouldn't take it too personally, either, Chuck's just venting. For all of us. Oops! I mean "uh, certain other people."

Monday, February 11, 2008

I appreciated him before, but now that I've seen the spectacle that is Mika, all I can say is "Go!" This kid has "it." In a big way. And from the minute he sang his first note, he had the audience at the Wiltern eating out of his hand. Seriously, they were mad for the boy...And he, his musicians, backup singers, dancers and whoever designed the stage, the sound and the lighting deserved every bit of that madness.

As he introduced "Billy Brown" a gay bio-anthem of sorts, he explained "So I wrote this song and I turned it into my record label, and they sent back word that this song (and his voice lowers to a growl) "wasn't appropriate for the U.S. market and we recommend you not release it."" He skips a beat. The crowd roars. And in his normal voice, he barks "Not bloody likely!" And launches into the song as the audience roars its approval.

And I think "Thank God I live in L.A. where (most) people are past the kind of petty, inconsequential nonsense that our media geniuses and our employees in Congress contend preoccupies us to distraction, especially out there in "The Heartland." But my gratitude is marred as I realize that my country has now become a place that foreign Marketing Execs feel behooved to second-guess our level of provinciality and prudishness.

...Like American music execs would if they were trying to market say, Mariah Carey to Saudi Arabia...

Yep, this is what my country has become; the Saudia Arabia of The New World. Rich and stupid, with a mean oligarchy in moral hock up to its eyeteeth to a bunch of religious nuts whose spiritual practice is so brittle, so easily distracted, that Job 1 is to subjugate the entire world so that they won't be led astray by the sound of music, the sight of a bare ankle or the thought that there is more than one path to God, and some really good people aren't interested in any of them

Back in January of 2003, just as we were getting ready to invade Iraq, Time Magazine ran an essay by Brian Eno in which he posed the question "How can a country that has produced some much economic and cultural wealth act so dumb?" In it, he compared the America of 2003 with the America he had lived in from 1978 to 1983 and found the new America almost unrecognizable. You'll never see this essay, though, unless you Google it, and the reason for that is that it never ran in the American edition of Time. It only ran in the International Edition. And what Eno was decrying was a death of the American Spirit, which he characterized as one of enthusiasm and openness, and its replacement with this sorry, chronic self-righteous arrogance, self-pity and disinterest in the rest of the world.

Doubtless, that story never ran here because it was probably reasoned that Americans were probably far too brittle still from 9/11 to be able to withstand even the gentlest criticism from someone who counts himself a fan. And doubtless nobody wanted to take the heat, or be called a traitor. Because real friends, we know, will wave pompoms and tell you you're really great even after you've done something really shitty. Like drive drunk or abandon an unstable country you've just invaded which remains in desperate need of support so you can invade another country based on nothing more than the desire to.

And the role of the news media, we now know is to make us feel good, and reporting the actual news is a downer. We can be fed continuous images of a poor, panti-less Britney Spears strapped into a gurney as she wrestles with whatever psychiatric storm vexes her mind, but we're not asked to take a hard look at the remains of our children returning home in coffins. We can put off the consequences of the psychic and physical maiming that war has inflicted on our children who are lucky enough to make it home in one piece, more, or less - though their families are not always so lucky. And unlike the rest of the world - even that part of it served by our own news agencies - we don't have to waste our beautiful minds on the truth of what we're doing to the men, women and children of Iraq.

And there's no need for a report on just how insane most of the developed world thinks we are at the moment - they're just jealous, anyway. Of our freedom, or something.

No one is jealous of us. They all think we've lost our minds. Oh yeah, I can hear you, and yes, people are still sneaking across our borders daily. But who are they? They're people who have nothing except a desire to get enough money to get a proper roof over the head and some decent food on the table. I'm not faulting them, but their desire to get into this country by hook or by crook doesn't exactly stand as a ringing endorsement of how great things are here, it just means our version of shitty is a little less shitty than what constitutes "shitty" where they came from.

That doesn't work for me. I want my country back. I want the country I grew up in back. That country was, we were told, the greatest country in the world, and even though it was far from perfect even then, I knew it was a special blessing to be an American. We knew we enjoyed a level of comfort and security the rest of the world could only dream of. But more than that, we were taught we could always be better: more comfortable, more secure, but also more generous, more just, more humane, more educated, more magnanimous.

I want that country back. I'm tired of this country - this cynical, mean-spirited, selfish, frightened, self-righteous nation led by arrogant, whiny gasbags who care only for more power and more money - to no discernible end but more power and still more money.

I'm tired of 9/11 being used to excuse our complete abandonment of the principles which made this country what it was. Face it, kids. "The terrorists" are never going to go away. And why would they? Given our extended response to 9/11, it's fairly clear that all they need is a sledgehammer or a screw driver and a few well-shouted "Death to the American Satans!" or "God Hates Fags!" or whatever's the beef of the week and we'll run screaming into the streets, happy to surrender everything that made this country the most progressive place on Earth in return for a "security" that doesn't exist in a Free Society, or any society for that matter.

Yes, we could beef up security on our borders and at the ports (we haven't) we could realize that the condition of our infrastructure - our roads, rail lines, our airspace, and our medical infrastructure are all security issues (not gonna happen) and still, we are going to have terrorism. And the reason we are going to have terrorism is that we have demonstrated that we don't really care about the American ideals we claim to cherish. We have demonstrated that we will gladly let go of any and all of them if someone tells us we need to. And even the leaders we have who know better won't say a peep because keeping their job in Washington is more important than keeping their integrity.

Friday, February 01, 2008

I was looking at my old posts and the more I read, the more annoying they seemed. I hit the "delete" button (less times than I care to admit, but hey, what can you do?) I hit the "delete" button because even though I still agree with what was said, I didn't like the way it was said; too angry, too sarcastic, too histrionic. And looking over everything, it struck me that what this blog had become was one more enraged voice in an enormous chorus of countless enraged voices from all sides of the spectrum, each screaming louder in an attempt to drown out the others, each coarsening the discourse a bit (or a lot). The end result? Eventually, everyone with an opinion, and everyone who cares passionately about anything finds themselves wallowing in a verbal and moral sewer of our own making.

There is much wrong with the world right now, I think. And there is not enough right with it. But shrieking like Medusa on a bad hair day and eviscerating those who disagree with one (however evil they may be) isn't making anything better, it's just wasting energy that could be used to actually bring attention to, address, and maybe solve the problem.

And not only that, but in the midst of things, for those of us lucky enough to have one, life goes on. I'm currently looking for a new place to live in Los Angeles (no picnic) but the people I'm meeting in my search and the stories they tell me kind of make me wish I could rent five apartments and live in each one. More on that tomorrow....

In the meantime, though, I want to say that while I think it's a shame that Edwards has dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomimation, I know in my gut that he and his utterly, earth-shatteringly classy wife Elizabeth will continue to make a positive difference in this country by example, if nothing else. I've never met them personally, but what I perceive is two people who have been blessed materially and challenged emotionally and spiritually, and through it all maintained and enhanced their humanity. I hope we haven't heard the last of these two as in my opinion, they really embody the best of America.